In my last post I talked about the importance and impact of scheduling your day, or at least having a general schedule for those days where you’re not rushing from meeting to meeting. Today we are going to talk a little more about schedules, but more specifically about how knowing your schedule can help with productivity.
I’ve tried a lot of things when it comes to increasing productivity. Having a schedule is just one component of that equation. For those of us in academia, especially in the summer, our days are mostly up to us. Sure, meetings happen, but if we aren’t teaching classes or leading programs, we can choose what we work on each day. We get to pick where to spend our time. It’s both wonderful and terrible at the same time. A lot of us got here because we are very good at following the rules, showing up, doing what we are told, and then suddenly, once your PhD is completed, your schedule is your own. What do you do with it? There’s work to be done but…the deadlines are often weeks or even months away. How do you cope?
For me, it’s accountability. I need to have some kind of report or product to show me where I’ve been and what I’ve done with my time. I’ve tried a few different things, paper planners, to-do lists, evernote, but what seems to work best for me is a time tracking app. It’s similar to what an independent consultant would use, or a contractor, or anyone who needs to estimate hours spent on different tasks. There are several out there. Damon over on the Art of Productivity has reviewed several options so I won’t repeat his efforts, but you should check them out (Link: http://artofproductivity.com/top-time-trackers/).
Personally, I like ATracker. I used it on and off during grad school but now that my time is really under my direction it helps me be accountable to myself and know where I’m spending the bulk of it (no shocker that it’s meetings and email…). It took me a little while to remember to use it and I admit I still forget sometimes, especially on days that my schedule gets thrown off, but I can always go back and edit the hours and add in what I missed.
Here, you can see how I’ve spent my morning so far. Again…mostly email and organization.
I like the fact that I can color code my tasks. For me, each of the colors represents a portion of my PRS (research percentage, university service, etc) and allows me to quickly see how much of my time I’m devoting to those activities and then compare it to my PRS document in my annual review.
If I look and yesterday’s breakdown I can see that I spent a little over 70% of my time on Professional Practice (red categories in my world). I can also look at the past 30 days, or entire year. Again, great data to take to that annual review.
By having a clear graphic (even though it is a pie chart….ugh) of how I’m spending my day, I feel a sense of accountability. I need to make sure I’m spending my time effectively. It’s not always perfect, but it keeps me on track. If I check the app at the end of the week and see that I did little to nothing in the Research category….I know I need to up my game and work on that next week.
Having some type of accountability helps you stay focused and on track. Accounting for your time can give you a huge push in the direction of increased productivity. I know it’s worked for me. How do you account for your time? Have you used any other apps or trackers? Leave a comment down below!
Projects half Done 